Kansas men’s basketball has opened the year at No. 17 in the AP Top 25, a preseason slot that lands above last season’s No. 19 start but still sits lower than any KU preseason ranking since 2008, when the Jayhawks began at No. 24.
The ranking comes as Kansas has already been getting some national attention for what it brings back and what it adds. The Jayhawks were picked to finish third in the Big 12, with Tyran Stokes earning the league’s freshman of the year honor and a spot on the all-conference team. KU’s roster features Stokes, plus another prized freshman in Taylen Kinney and transfers Leroy Blyden Jr. and Keanu Dawes.
Kansas also added two players from last season’s team in Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White, then picked up former Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn on Monday morning after all three received additional eligibility in the courts. It is not clear whether voters had already turned in their ballots by then.
The schedule is packed with ranked opponents, and the preseason poll makes that even more obvious. The Big 12 alone includes No.
5 Arizona, No. 10 Houston, No.
18 Iowa State, No. 19 Texas Tech and No.
25 BYU.
Outside the league, the Jayhawks have even more heavyweight tests looming. No.
1 Florida could be waiting in the Players Era tournament in November. No.
2 Duke is set to come to Allen Fieldhouse for an exhibition on Sunday. KU will play No.
4 UConn on the road Dec. 12.
No. 11 Louisville, which features former KU standout Flory Bidunga, visits Lawrence on Wednesday for another exhibition.
And No. 23 Kentucky is on the other side of the Champions Classic in Chicago on Nov.
Kansas has already taken the floor once in exhibition play, beating Division II Pittsburg State 80-62 on Friday. The Jayhawks host Louisville on Wednesday at 6 p.m., with the game set for ESPNU.
Missouri checked in as the first team outside the top 25, while fellow KU opponents Ohio State, TCU and possibly Auburn in the Players Era also received votes.
Full Top 25: 1.
Florida 2.
Duke 3.
Illinois 4.
UConn 5.
Arizona 6.
Michigan State 7.
Texas 8.
Tennessee 9.
Virginia 10.
Houston 11.
Louisville 12.
Arkansas 13.
St. John’s
- Miami
- Gonzaga
- Michigan
- Kansas
- Iowa State
- Texas Tech
- Alabama
- USC
- UCLA
- Kentucky
- Vanderbilt
- BYU
In Other News...
Kansas Faces A Costly Lance Leipold Question It Can't Ignore
Since Lance Leipold arrived in 2021, Kansas football has at least looked like a program with direction again. He delivered back-to-back bowl trips, snapped several losing streaks and gave the Jayhawks the kind of stability they had not found through five head coaches since 2010. Even so, the broader picture has remained uneven, with the team still searching for a way to turn brief progress into a more consistent winning run.
The problem for Kansas is that the question around Leipold is not just about football. Stadium construction costs and contract buyouts make any coaching decision more complicated, and that financial reality hangs over every discussion about the future. For a program that has already spent years trying to find the right fit, the margin for another expensive misstep is awfully thin. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Just Added A Purdue Veteran Bill Self Can Actually Use
Trey Kaufman-Renn is bringing a rare blend of experience to Lawrence after five seasons at Purdue, and the timing could not be better for a Kansas roster that can use more proven production up front. A court ruling has granted him an additional year of college eligibility while his case against the NCAA continues, giving Bill Self another veteran forward with a rsum built in the Big Ten and on the NCAA Tournament stage.
For Kansas, the appeal is obvious: Kaufman-Renn arrives with the kind of scoring touch and rebounding presence that can help stabilize a frontcourt and ease some pressure on the rotation. His path to campus is still tied to an unresolved legal fight, but the Jayhawks have added a player who has already logged meaningful high-level minutes and should be able to contribute right away. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Self Is Pushing Kansas Deeper Into A Risky New Reality
The first exhibition in Allen Fieldhouse came with a visible change underfoot, as new Monster Energy logos appeared on the Kansas court and offered another reminder of how quickly the mens basketball program is adapting to a shifting college sports landscape. Just before the season opener, the Jayhawks also added former Purdue forward and Minnesota Timberwolves draft pick Trey Kaufman-Renn, giving Bill Self another veteran piece as Kansas continues to piece together a roster built in part through unusual and highly specific circumstances.
What stands out now is how much of that roster exists under court-ordered eligibility, with Trey Kaufman-Renn joining Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. in that category. Each case carries its own legal wrinkle, and together they underscore how Kansas is operating in a reality that would have seemed hard to imagine even a few seasons ago. The talent is there, but so is the uncertainty, and the Jayhawks are finding themselves deeper into that mix as the season begins. [Read more 🡒]